Gas-engine



(No Model.)

T. SMALL.

GAS ENGINE.

No. 581,783. Patented May 4,1897.

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THOMAS SMALL, OF OAMDEN, NEXV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE J. RICHARDSON,T DtUS'lllE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Dld-581,783, dated May 4,1897.

Application led April 11,1896. Serial No. 587,184. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, THonAs SMALL, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Camden, county of Camden, State of New Jersey, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Engines, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accom panying drawings, forming part of the speci fication.

My invention relates to certain improvements in gas-engines, and hasamong its objects to provide for the removal from the cylinder of theexploded gases and the products of combustion after each forward strokeof the piston and to secure an explosion at every stroke of the piston,as more fully described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings I illustrate certain forms of apparatusembodying my invention.

Figure 'l is a sectional elevation of the cylinder of a gas-engine,illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the sameon the line 2 2, Fig. l.

In carrying out my invention I propose to so combine with thegas-exploding chamber, a high-pressure exhaust-port for primarilyexhausting all the exploded gases above atmospheric pressure, and anexhausting device that the exploding gases will be exhausted from theengine immediately after the piston is driven forward bythe explosion ofa charge, a new charge simultaneously introduced, and on the returnstroke of the piston the new charge compressed for the next explosion,thereby securing an explosion every revo lution. In gas-engines of thisclass the pressure and the quantity of the products of combustion in thecylinder behind the piston vary as the initial pressure varies, and asthe means for exhaustin these products are usually regulated to exhausta given quantity of the exploded products, and at the same time to drawin the new charge of air and gas at times when on a given explosion theexploded products are at a minimum, the exhaust mechanism beingregulated to exhaust a given quantity of the exploded products greaterthanjthe amount that at this given time is contained in the cylinder,the exhaust will tend to draw into the cylinder an excess of air and gasafter exhausting the products of combustion, and may even go so far asto draw out through the main. exhaust-pipe a quantity of unexploded gas,thereby creating waste.

In my invention in order to overcome this objection I provide a meansfor preliminarily exhausting all the products of combustion from thecylinder above atmospheric pressure before the main exhaust-port isopened, so that the only work which the mechanicallyoperated mainexhausting mechanism has to do is to exhaust the products of combustion,which are always ata given uniform pressure. Therefore, as the productsof combustion in the cylinder will always be at a uniform pres sure, theexhaust mechanism is regulated to exhaust what must always be the givenquantity of products of combustion in the cylinder.

In carrying out my invention I provide the high-pressure exhaust portand valve constructed and operated as hereinafter particularlydescribed.

Referring to the drawings embodying my invention, A represents acylinder of a gasengine, in which is a piston B, connected by a rod l)to a crank or other device. At the rear end of the cylinder are twoports c c', for the entrance of air and gas, respectively, which portsare closed by a valve C, adapted to a conical seat at the rear of thecylinder. The Valve C is preferably provided with a stem d, projectingthrough and guided by an opening in the cylinder-head and being providedwith an adj usting-nutcZQ between which land the cylinder-head is acoiled compression-spring d2, normally acting to hold the valve to itsseat and to prevent the escape of the gases from the cylinder.

In Fig. l the piston B is shown near the end of its forward stroke andis Ycovering an exhaust-port e, connected to the pipe E, which leads toa pump or some similar exhausting device. On the opposite side of thecylinder,

at a point slightly in advance of the port c, is a high-pressureexhaust-port f, closed by a check-valve F, opening outwardly and pro-IOO 4 spring, and when the piston again starts its.

vided with a coiled compression-spring f ,surrounding its stem f2, thetension of the spring being regulated by a gland-nut f3.

The sparking device in the present instance comprises an electrode c, inthe form of a tongue laterally projecting from the rod G, which finds abearing in a collar 7L and is normally held in the position shown inFig. l by a torsion-spring 7L', connected at one end to the rod and atthe opposite end to the collar h. The collar is held in place by aglandnut II, insulated from the collar by a sleeve h2, of rubber orother suitable material. The opposite electrode g is carried by thepiston and is in the form of a linger which comes into contact with thetongue g as the piston moves to the rear, the relative positions of theparts being such that before the piston reaches its rear end positionthe finger g will have moved the tongue g backward a slight distanceagainst the action of the torsionforward movement the tongue g willfollow it until the tongue is again in its normal position, and theparting of the two electrodes will, in breaking electrical contact,create a spark and ignite the explosive charge.

The terminals of the wires which form the circuit are shown in Fig. l,one wire x being attached to the rod G and the opposite wire 00/ beingattached to a binding-post on the cylinder. y

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming the piston B to beon its rearward movement, when in the position shown in Fig. l, and therear portion of the cylinder to be filled with a charge of gas and air,as hereinafter described, the rearward movement of the piston willcompress the charge and after the electrodes break contact and explosiontakes place the piston will be driven forward.

IVhen the piston has been forced forward a suiiicient distance to openthe port f, the high pressure of the exploded gases opens thecheck-valve F and allows all pressure above the atmosphere to escapetherethrough. Immediately afterward the port e will be uncovered, andthe action of the pump exhausts the remaining exploded gases, which aredrawn through the said port c, and a partial vacuum is created in thecylinder, simultaneously causing the opening of the valve C and theadmittance of a fresh supply of air and gas. In some cases, where theport e and exhaust mechanism are of sufficient size to permit the escapeof all the products of combustion, the port f and its check-valve may bedispensed with.

In order to keep the inner mouth of the port c closed while thepiston-head is traveling in the rear portion of the cylinder, the wallsof the piston-head, especially that portion passing over the mouth ofthe port e, are sufficiently elongated to at all times cover the mouthof the port e during its passage through the cylinder rearward of theposition illustrated in Fig. l. The object of this construction is toprevent a useless exhausting operation du ring the travel of the pistonrearward of the position shown in Fig. l. The pump still operatin g whenthe piston moves forward of the position shown in Fig. l, a partialvacuum will be formed in the exhaust-pipe, which will enable it tooperate promptly or as soon as the port c commences to open and toexhaust the exploded gases and the products of combustion.

As is clear from the construction, the piston-rod is connected bytheusual crank-arm with a driving-shaft and fly or balance wheel from whichthe pump or other exhausting device connecting with the exhaust-pipe Eis driven. As heretofore stated, any desired form of air-pump orexhausting device for exhausting the exploded gases and products ofcombustion may be employed.

I have herein described a simple forni of apparatus embodying myinvention 5 but it is clear that other forms of apparatus `may beemployed.

By the use of my invention I secure greater power and greater speed, ifdesired. The loss of power is reduced to a minimum. The piston is lessliable to clog or to become impeded than in other constructions, as allthe products of combustion of each charge are promptly exhausted aftereach explosion and foreign matter thus removed from the cylinder andexplosion-chamber. The amount of gas required is reduced to a minimum,which gas is of the character usually employed in gas-engines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination in a gas-engine, of a cylinder having air and gasinlets, and a main exhaust-port for exhausting the main portion of theproducts of combustion at the completion of each forward stroke of theengine, said port opening into the cylinder at or about a pointcoincident with the line of travel of the inner face of the piston whenfull forward, means for inducing the flow of an explosive chargc intothe cylinder at the completion of each forward stroke of the piston asthe products of combustion are withdrawn from the cylinder, a piston insaid cylinder, a high pressure exhaust port provided through the wallsof the cylinder in advance of the main exhaust-port to permit the escapeof the products of combustion above the pressure of the atmosphere andan automaticallyoperated one way check-valve provided' in said portconstructed to open before the main exhaust-port is opened.

2. The combination in a gas-engine of a cylinder having air and gasinlets, and a main exhaust-port for exhausting the main portion of theproducts of combustion, a piston in said cylinder, a high-pressureexhaust-port, f, opening into the cylinder in advance of the mainexhaust-port and a one-way valve in said port, f, substantially asspeciiied.

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3. In zt gas-engine, zt oylin der having t Combined Compression andexplosion chamber, a reciprocating piston with elongated pistonheztd, B,spring-Controlled valve, C, for regu- 5 lating the admission of stir andgas through the inlet-ports, c, c', high-pressure exhaust port,jicheek-valve, F, provided therein, stem f2, coiled compression-spring,f4, and glandnut, f3, main exhaust-port, e, for exhausting the mainportion of the products of combus- THOMAS SMALL.

Vituesses:

JNO. E. PARKER, EDMUND S. MILLS.

